2. Whey Low® is new, but is it safe?Each of the natural sugars in the patented blend that is Whey Low® is accepted by the US FDA as safe for food use or GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status. These sugars have all been consumed as significant nutrients in the human diet for centuries. Current daily per capita consumption of each component sugar in the US is estimated at 81 grams per day for table sugar (sucrose), 37 grams per day for fruit sugar (fructose), and 16 grams per day for milk sugar (lactose). VivaLac® Inc. aims to replace the 80 grams per day per person of "added sugars" (mostly sucrose, fructose and glucose), which food processors add to the American diet and which contribute significantly to the fattening of America, with Whey Low®. In return for the exchange, you can expect fewer calories and impact carbohydrates in your daily diet, reduced blood sugar excursions after eating, and increased growth of healthful bacteria in your large intestine (See Health Benefits). Back to Top

3. Is Whey Low® safe for diabetics? Yes. Whey Low® Type D has been tested in type 2 diabetics in the clinic and has been found to have no more than 20% of the glycemic index of glucose. After-meal blood glucose excursions were reduced significantly. Detailed results are presented in Clinical Testing. Unlike alternative sweeteners on the market, you do not have to revise your favorite recipes to accommodate Whey Low®. Just replace the table sugar called for in your recipes one-for-one with Whey Low® Type D and set high expectations for the final food products. Back to Top

4. Is Whey Low® effective for low-carbohydrate dieters? Because of their low glycemic index, Whey Low® Granular, Whey Low® Granular Packets, Whey Low® Gold, Whey Low® Powder, Whey Low® for Ice Cream, and Whey Low® Maple are all ideal for low-carb dieters. The available carbohydrate count or impact carbohydrates for Whey Low® in combination with dietary carbohydrates is only 1 gram of carbohydrates per 1 teaspoon serving. The carbohydrate count for table sugar is 4 grams per teaspoon.Back to Top

5. How should I use Whey Low® in foods?Simply stated, you can use Whey Low® to replace ordinary sugar one-for-one in any food without sacrificing the good taste or properties of the original food. When replacing sugar with Whey Low® Granular in baked goods recipes, we suggest you reduce oven temperature 10º and use the shortest bake time recommended in the recipe because of the increased level of browning from Whey Low®, compared with table sugar. Because of the propensity of Whey Low® Gold, our new brown sugar replacement, to brown in baking, there is no longer any need to use brown sugar.

President's note -- We regularly use Whey Low® Granular and Whey Low® Type D in our home as a one-for-one replacement for sugar in cakes, icings, cookies, custard, apple pies, lemon bars, hard candy, hot and cold cereals, fresh fruits, Kool-Aid, tea, and coffee, all with great results.Back to Top

6. How is this new sweetener different from others?Whey Low® is so new and novel that VivaLac® Inc., the developer, manufacturer and distributor, has obtained a US patent and filed many other patents throughout the world. The all-natural blend of sugars has the same sweetness level as ordinary sugar, the same functional properties in foods, one quarter of the calories and impact carbohydrates and less than one third of the glycemic index of sugar. No single alternative sweetener on the market today comes as close to table sugar in terms of taste and functional properties as Whey Low®! The limitations of high-intensity sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame K, saccharin and stevia are well-known to weight-conscious consumers. First, non-nutritive, high-intensity sweeteners, while virtually free of calories because of the small amount required, do not provide any of the functional or bulk properties of ordinary sugar. Second, each one has a variety of limitations such as tainted safety record, licorice taste, unpleasant after-taste, loss of sweetness in hot foods or during warehouse storage, alleged headaches, etc.

Caloric values of the sugar alcohols (polyols) and rare carbohydrates range from 0.4 to 3 Calories/gram (caloric value of sucrose = 4 Calories/gram or 4 kcal/gram), but because of the unusual metabolism or inertness of these materials in the host and in the gut of the host, there are always side effects including diarrhea, flatulence, cramps, and nausea when more than 20 to 30 grams are consumed in a meal. In our clinical testing we have never observed any gastrointestinal disturbances with up to 50 grams (1.8 oz) of Whey Low® in any drink or food product.

7. Are there any side effects from the use of Whey Low®?No side effects have been observed in the clinical tests performed to date, and no observations of side effects of any kind were reported by participants in the Consumer Survey. Back to Top

8. Is the milk sugar (lactose) in Whey Low® problematic for lactose-intolerant individuals?The small amount of milk sugar in Whey Low® has not caused any problems of which we are aware. The three lactose-intolerant consumers in our Consumer Survey reported no gastrointestinal disturbances at all from the use of Whey Low®. Lactose-intolerant people can ingest as much as a single dose of 12 grams of lactose per day (equivalent to the lactose in one 8-oz. glass of milk) without any symptoms, according to Suarez FL, Savaiano DA, and Levitt MD, N Engl J Med. 1995 Jul 6;333(1):1-4. Normal daily consumption of Whey Low® as a tabletop sweetener should not cause any problem for lactose-intolerant individuals.Back to Top

9. Will Whey Low® help me lose weight? What kind of body weight reductions should I expect over the next three months?The average American adult consumes 20 teaspoons of "added sugars" daily. If he or she could reduce daily consumption to 5 teaspoons (1/2 of the USDA recommendation) or 20 teaspoons of a sugar with ~1/4 of the calories of sucrose (such as Whey Low®), he or she could expect to lose 6 lb of body weight (as body fat) over the course of three months. This weight loss assumes no change in physical activity level and no other change in caloric intake. Of course, cutting back on added sugars is difficult, as all of us who have tried diets know. A much easier solution is to replace sugar with an equivalent amount of Whey Low® in all of our foods. Your taste buds will be none-the-wiser.Back to Top

10. What about corn and milk allergies from eating Whey Low®?Whey Low® contains fructose, which is obtained from corn, and lactose, which is obtained from whey or milk. Both the fructose and lactose that go into Whey Low® are extremely pure crystalline sugars and contain little or no allergens or proteins (like casein) that could possibly be allergens. These two simple sugars are not known to cause any allergies. Back to Top

11. Will the fruit sugar in Whey Low® products cause increased levels of serum triglycerides? Recently, researchers have reported that dietary consumption of very large amounts (greater than 20% of total energy intake) of fructose may cause increased serum triglyceride levels, a probable risk factor for heart disease. Published clinical studies have shown no increase in serum triglycerides when as much as 19% of total energy intake is table sugar (cf. Bantle et al., Diabetes Care 16: 1301-1305 (1993) and Abraira et al., Am J Med 84: 193-200, (1988)). Since table sugar, or sucrose, is 1/2 fructose and 1/2 glucose and since fructose is metabolized identically by the liver to make triglycerides regardless of the dietary source, we can see that ingestion of 9.5% of total energy intake as fructose shows no increase in serum triglycerides. Complete replacement of the average American's 80-gram-per-day consumption of "added sugars" (as part of a total energy intake of 2500 Calories per day) with 80 grams per day of Whey Low® products will result in less than 9.5% of total energy consumption as fructose. Consequently, we do not expect any significant elevation of serum triglycerides when any combination of Whey Low® Granular, Type D, or any other Whey Low® product is used as a one-for-one replacement for table sugar in the normal American diet. Most importantly, we have seen a significant decrease in postprandial blood sugar of diabetics and pre-diabetics when either Whey Low® Type D or Whey Low® Granular, respectively, replaces table sugar in their meals.Back to Top

12. What is the difference between Whey Low® Granular and Whey Low® Type D, and which one is better for me? Whey Low Granular is a blend of three natural sugars that was optimized for the lowest possible glycemic index and caloric content while maintaining the sweetness and functional properties of table sugar in all foods. Whey Low® Granular is ideal for all health-conscious people, overweight people, low-carb dieters, and people with impaired glucose tolerance who are already mindful of their carbohydrate intakes and are careful about overindulging in sweets. Whey Low Type D is a blend of two natural sugars that was optimized to give the lowest possible glycemic index and is ideal for type 1 and type 2 diabetics, who need to control their postprandial (after-meal) blood sugar levels very tightly. While Whey Low® Granular can be used in baked goods with very little change to the recipe (be sure to use a 10º F lower oven temperature and the shortest bake time described in the recipe), baking with Whey Low® Type D requires a reduced oven temperature of about 10º F and a longer bake time determined while monitoring browning in the oven. In all other food applications, both sugar blends should taste and perform the same as table sugar. Back to Top

13. What is the difference between Whey Low® for Ice Cream and Whey Low® Granular?Whey Low® Granular is our general sugar replacement used in most foods to replace table sugar one-for-one. In sweet dairy products Whey Low® for Ice Cream has all of the same healthful and taste properties as Whey Low® Granular but has been formulated specifically for replacement of sugar one-for-one in cold dairy desserts. Whey Low® for Ice Cream will give your ice cream, whipped cream, yogurt, or frozen yogurt product a creamy smooth mouthfeel every time. Back to Top

14. How should I store Whey Low® in my kitchen?Most of our customers like to keep Whey Low® in the canister or resealable polyethylene bag in which it is sold. The sugar blend will keep indefinitely in any well-sealed container at room temperature. Normally you can even store Whey Low® in your sugar bowl. Like all sugars, Whey Low® absorbs atmospheric water and clumps up and ultimately turns into syrup at high relative humidity and ambient temperature. The process is called deliquescence. Whenever your room air exceeds a dew point of 53º Fahrenheit, you ought to store your sugar bowl in the refrigerator to avoid deliquescence. Current dew points of outdoor air are available from the meteorologist at your local television station or you can click here to get the current dew point for your part of the world. Back to Top

15. What is the significance of the name Whey Low®?Like all of VivaLac's healthy products, Whey Low® is in part derived from milk or, more precisely, from whey*. It is way low in calories. If you are overweight and can replace most of your sugar intake with VivaLac's low-calorie sugar replacement, you will eventually weigh low. *whey (pronounced "way") noun -- the watery part of milk that separates from the curds in the process of making cheese.Back to Top

16. How does Whey Low® work to reduce available carbohydrates and calories to users?The three natural sugars (simple carbohydrates) that comprise Whey Low® work synergistically in the small intestine to interfere with the normal absorption of each other into the bloodstream. For example, we have found in clinical testing that fructose (fruit sugar) interferes with the normal absorption of lactose (milk sugar). Fructose, a small hexose monosaccharide, is easily absorbed via a facilitated diffusion mechanism, and no sugar is known to interfere with its absorption. Lactose, a disaccharide, interferes with the normal absorption of the disaccharide, sucrose (ordinary or table sugar), and with starch, a polysaccharide or complex carbohydrate usually consumed along with any sweetener. Finally, there is a weaker interference between fructose and the normal absorption of sucrose. These interactions are depicted and a theoretical framework put forth in the diagram.

The mutual interferences with normal absorption serve to provide a unique barrier for the body's normal dietary sources for carbohydrates and resulting blood glucose and calories. Insulin demand is reduced. Carbohydrate and calorie utilization by the host of the unabsorbed carbohydrates, which pass into the large intestine or gut, are minimized by rapid and complete bacterial utilization. Small, but quantifiable, amounts of volatile fatty acids (VFA's) are produced from the unabsorbed carbohydrates by the indigenous bacteria and are absorbed through the walls of the large intestine into the bloodstream. VFA's are eventually converted into glucose in the liver. Back to Top

17. Why is Whey Low® regarded as an All-American product?Whey Low® was invented by an American scientist, developed in the US by an American company, VivaLac® Inc., and is blended and packaged by American labor. All of the natural raw materials in Whey Low® come from American farmers and are processed exclusively in the US by American dairies, corn products companies, and sugar companies. VivaLac® exports small but increasingly larger quantities of Whey Low® products to foreign countries and has no plans to outsource US sales-related services to foreign countries at this time. Back to Top

18. How and where can I buy Whey Low®? Although Whey Low® can be purchased in a number of real and virtual stores, Whey Low® is available directly from VivaLac® Inc., the manufacturer. You should go to the Catalog page, place the items you want in the Shopping Cart, and complete the transaction online at our secure website. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card, and PayPal online. Alternatively, you may arrange for payment by check or money order online; just send either a money order or a personal check payable to "VivaLac Inc." for the correct amount of the transaction, prior to shipment of the order. The address is VivaLac® Inc., P.O. Box 272, Brookeville, MD 20833.

The alternatives to ordering online are to order by our toll-free phone (1 888 639-8480 between 9 AM and 6 PM ET Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 12 Noon Saturday) or to fax an order form to the same toll-free number 24 hours a day. Please limit orders to physical shipping addresses and military FPO's/APO's in North America (please no Post Office boxes, except in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or Canada). For Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Canada, shipping charges (for insured US Priority Mail or US Airmail Parcel Post to Canada) will be applied to online orders. See How to Place Your Order if you have any questions, or feel free to contact us via e-mail, fax, or toll-free phone.Back to Top

19. Is Whey Low® available in any food products? Click here to see a list of retail stores, bakeries, and other stores that currently sell products using Whey Low® as their sweetener. Back to Top

20. How can I get my local health food store, which is not on your list of customers, to carry Whey Low® products so that purchasing is more convenient for me? Just ask your local health/natural/organic food store proprietor to call us toll-free at 888 639-8480 to request more information about Whey Low®, including a wholesale price list. We will be glad to send information the same day free of charge and follow up in a week to make sure that the product and price information is satisfactory. Back to Top